Waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, and method for recovering valuable metals from lithium-based battery using same

Abstract

The present invention relates to a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, and a method for recovering valuable metals from lithium-based batteries using the same, the waste battery treatment apparatus comprising: a frame (10); a reaction reservoir (30) which is disposed in the inner space of the frame (10) and has thereinside a treatment space (S1) in which waste batteries to be treated are disposed; an inlet 34 (33) in which a gas blocking door (34) is disposed so as to selectively communicate the treating space (S1) with the outside, and which serves as a path through which an object to be treated is inputted to the treating space (S1) of the reaction reservoir (30). In addition, the waste battery treatment apparatus is provided with a vacuum forming means (40) which is connected to the treatment space (S1) of the reaction reservoir (30) to vacuumize the treatment space (S1). In the treatment apparatus of the present invention, since the inside of the reaction reservoir (30) is vacuumized and, at the same time, an inert gas is injected thereinto while a pretreatment process of waste batteries is performed in the reaction reservoir (30), the waste batteries are prevented from exploding during heat treatment, whereby work stability can be improved.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for recovering valuable metals by a continuous heat treatment process from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment, which includes a frame, a reaction reservoir, a vacuum forming means, and an inlet, the method comprising:
 a vacuum forming step of vacuumizing the inside of the reaction reservoir by using the vacuum forming means; 
 a heat treatment step of inputting and heat-treating waste batteries to be treated by opening a gas blocking door of the inlet; 
 a closing step of closing the gas blocking door in order to prevent poisonous gas or dust in the reaction reservoir from being discharged to the outside after the waste battery inputting step; 
 a gas discharging step of discharging the poisonous gas and dust generated during the heat treatment through a gas outlet; 
 a gas treatment step of separating and treating valuable metal powder included in the discharged dust in the gas discharging step; 
 a collection step of collecting the waste batteries heat-treated through the heat treatment step from the reaction reservoir; and 
 a step of crushing or grinding the collected waste batteries and thereafter, separating and recovering the valuable metal powder of the crushed or ground waste batteries, wherein the method further comprises 
 a storage device inserting step of inputting the waste batteries to be treated into a storage device which can be input into/output from a treatment space of the reaction reservoir and thereafter, moving the storage device and inserting the storage device into the treatment space of the reaction reservoir prior to the heat treatment step; and 
 a reaction reservoir separating step of separating the storage device from the treatment space of the reaction reservoir and discharging the separated storage device to the outside prior to the collection step, 
 wherein the storage device includes a lower frame with a moving device, an upper frame which extends upward from the lower frame, and a basket provided in the upper frame and having a storage space capable of the waste batteries to be treated therein. 
 
     
     
       2. The method for recovering valuable metals from a lithium-based battery by using a waste battery treatment apparatus using continuous heat treatment of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a step of injecting inert gas into the treatment space through a gas inlet in order to prevent the inside of the reaction reservoir from exploding subsequently to the vacuum forming step.